The present invention relates to a one-way valve, a valve unit assembly and an ink cartridge using the valve or the valve unit assembly to control ink flow.
Conventionally, in an ink jet printer, the printhead is connected with the ink cartridge for printing out characters or drawings. A basic requirement thereof is that the ink cartridge can supply ink to the printhead smoothly. Currently, a porous member such as sponge for storing ink by capillary force is used in ink cartridges. China patent publication No. CN1185379A discloses this kind of ink cartridge, as shown in FIG. 43, which is divided into two chambers 2 and 4. A foam 3 is employed to absorb the ink, and obviously the foam occupies a part of the volume or inner space of the ink cartridge. Volumetric efficiency, however, in using foam is about 60-65%. Therefore, these designs are deemed to be less efficient than desired since a reduced amount of ink is stored in the cartridge.